Mundie Moms

Friday, September 28, 2012

Anew by Chelsea Fine Blog Tour: Book Review / Author Interview


I am thrilled to be the next stop in the Anew blog tour. Today author Chelsea Fine is on the blog to talk with me about her debut book!



Hi Chelsea! Thank you for being on Mundie Moms today. How would you describe Anew in 5 words or less?

Thank you for having me on! I’m so excited to be here! ☺ 

Okay. *taps chin* Using only five words, I’d have to say: Fountain of Youth, mystery, forbidden love.

Technically, that was six words, haha. But “of” doesn’t count, does it? It’s such a tiny little word…it’s insignificant, really…  

Did you have more fun creating the character chemistry or unraveling the mystery that surrounds Scarlet?

Ahh! ☺ What a great question! The mystery was fun, but creating the chemistry between my characters was EXCITING. I really loved writing scenes with Heather and Gabriel in them, because she’s annoying and he’s just tolerant, haha…for whatever reason, I find that entertaining. And writing scenes with Scarlet and Tristan was always a blast. I wanted readers to be wary of Tristan, but to like when Scarlet was intrigued by him and—since they don’t have an excess of dialogue between them—I had to build their tension using a lot of body language and inner thoughts. It was super fun!

I'm sure there are many readers who will read Anew and find themselves more drawn to one of the other brothers over the other. Did you find this was the case for yourself as you were writing them, or do you feel you were drawn to both guys equally?

I’m definitely drawn to one brother more than the other. So much so, that when I write scenes with my favorite brother, I don’t have to plan it out. I just start typing and write what I feel. I’m THAT connected to him. ;) 

What's one thing you admire about your main character Scarlet?

She yells back. Haha. I sometimes get annoyed by female characters who don’t scream back or defend themselves in a passionate way when a male character scolds them. Scarlet’s not afraid to fight back or follow her gut, and I like that. 

What was one of your favorite scenes/chapters to write?

There’s a scene in Anew where Tristan makes Scarlet pancakes at like 1am and it’s all dark and tense and he’s trying to stay away from her and she’s all curious about him and encroaching on his personal space…haha. Yeah. I love that scene. 

I also like the scene with Tristan and Gabriel going through the bloody weapons in Tristan’s trunk. ;) 

Do you have a favorite line from your book you can share with us?

I couldn’t narrow it down to just one line (because I’m ridiculous like that) but I like this passage: 

“Before he knew he was immortal. Before life was no longer fragile.
Those were the days when life truly meant something.
When life was hard but worthwhile, and love was valuable because your days were numbered.
That was living."

What can we except to learn about in book 2?

The history of Scarlet, Gabriel and Tristan! Awry is two stories woven together. It has the modern day story—where they’re trying to find the Fountain of Youth—and also the flashbacks of Scarlet’s first life—where the reader learns why Scarlet was engaged to Gabriel and what happened between her and Tristan. ☺

I can not wait to find out what happened between her and Tristan. Thank you for being on MM's today Chelsea! For more information about Chelsea and her series, visit her via: her blog | The Archers of Avalon website 



Published by: Acacia Publishing
Released on: December 7th, 2011
Source: book from author to review
3.5 stars: It's A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Two years ago, Scarlet awoke in the forest alone, afraid, and unable to remember anything. Lost and confused, her life was a mystery...until she met a boy with a familiar voice. 

Gabriel Archer has a voice from her past, and Scarlet's determined to remember why. She immerses herself in his life only to discover he has a brother he's kept hidden from her: Tristan Archer. 

Upon meeting Tristan, Scarlet's world becomes even more muddled. While she's instinctively drawn to Gabriel, she's impossibly drawn to Tristan--and confused out of her mind. As she tries to piece together her history Scarlet realizes her past...might just be the death of her. -quoted from Goodreads

I really liked the way this story started off. The pacing was great, the characters were enjoyable, and the mystery behind Scarlet's lack of memory and her ties to the Archer Brothers was intriguing. In fact, I really enjoyed the first half of the book, and the ending, but some where in the middle the story faltered a little bit for me. I was excepting more than what I got. Though I felt the story was great up to this point, once the big reveal happened, and I found out the history and the ties between Scarlet and the Archer brothers I felt like something was missing after that. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good storyline, but I felt it fell a little flat after that and then gained momentum again for that killer ending. Between the big reveal and the end I excepted a little more of something. A little more action or romance, or suspense. Essentially I was looking for the WOW moment to make this story really stand out among the rest, or at best give me something to fuel my appetite leading up to the reveal moment and that didn't happen for me. 

This story did give me intrigue, hooked me at the beginning of the book, presented me with a love story that has spanned centuries, and has a few twists that left me wishing the sequel was already out. It also gave me a fabulously written swoon worthy guy, Tristan. It's not that I didn't enjoy his brother Gabriel, because I did. Gabriel holds the promises of forever and that sweet fairytale kind of true love, while Tristan has this whole angst, secretive, exciting thing going on. While both guys might look like Greek Gods, the chemistry between Tristan and Scarlet was fabulous! I loved everything about these two, and felt what they had and didn't have was believable. Kudos to Chelsea for writing this unique relationship in a way that didn't feel like "just another" love triangle. I started to see what Scarlet saw in both guys, but got what she really felt with Tristan. I seriously can't wait to find out what really happened between these two.

The curse and history that bonds these three characters together was enchanting, heart breaking and a little swoon worthy all at the same time. Okay it's a little romantic...that kind of tragic romance that you want to read more about, because there's one girl, two brothers, a curse, and true love. One's destined to love this girl forever, but can never have her, while the other is connected to her and can painfully find her time after time, only his curse kills her the closer he gets to her. See what I mean. I know, it's a killer of a curse. That's the part of the book that hooked me. Well that and there's secrets among secrets in this book, and I have the sinking feeling that the person responsible for this curse is unsuspectingly very much apart of Scarlet's life. Over all Anew gave me just enough to hook me and now leaves me patiently waiting to get my hands on Awry! I can't wait to discover all that unfolds with Scarlet, Tristan and Gabriel in this sequel. You can be sure I'll be picking up this sequel shortly.



Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop


It's that time of year that we here on MM's love. Celebrating Banned Book Week. While we'll be having our own celebrations next week, we're also taking part in a BBW giveaway! During this giveaway BBW celebration I'm giving away 1 book from this list of Banned Books to one lucky follower. 

Your choice of 1 of the following titles that are from both this year's top 10, 2012 banned books, as well as from the list of most banned books of all time. Some example of titles to choose from are:
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part - Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • The Perks of Being a Wall Flower by Stephen Chobsky
  • TTYL, TTFN, L8R, G8R series by Lauren Myracle
  • Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry by Mildred Taylor
  • Speak by Laure Halse Anderson
  • Forever by Judy Blume
Be sure to fill out this form here to enter:


For more chances to win be sure to check out these other bloggers who have joined in the giveaway.


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